Take Me Away

It’s crazy to think about how girls will go absolutely crazy over a little dance. But every girl at Hogwarts was beyond excited, whether they were to admit it or not. So when the time came to go to Hogsmeade to find the proper dress, every girl clumped into their groups and sallied forward towards the small town filled with shops. Hogsmeade held many shops available to the students of Hogwarts twice a month. These trips were perfect for anxious student to stock up on clothes, sweets, and small gadgets to tinker with.

Fred and Lucy walked hand-in-hand down a cluttered street, barely talking. They were both a little nervous to say the least. George watched the awkward couple that walked in front of him. He rolled his eyes before quickly telling his brother that he was off to find some kind of adventure to suit his taste, which didn’t last long at all. He ended up back right where he started from.

Meredith on the other hand, was tucked away in the back of a dress shop. She had been in there for almost an hour trying to find the perfect dress for the Yule Ball. She didn’t have a date, but she was oddly okay with that. Her hands worked quickly as she looked through racks of dresses. She looked at red dresses, yellow dresses, green dresses, but all of them seemed to either wash her pale skin out or just didn’t seem to look good on her. She groaned in displeasure as she stepped away from the racks.

“Can I help you find something?” A small, plump woman asked with a small smile.

Meredith turned to look at the woman with an exhausting smile. She gave a slight nod before running her hands through her jet black hair. “I’ve been in her for an hour looking for a dress. I just can’t seem to find one that suits me.”

The woman stared at her for a while before snapping her fingers and running off to the very back of the shop and began mumbling words to herself. She fumbled through a rack full of dresses that she didn’t even notice. The woman gave out a shout of triumph then lifted a few dresses up in the air causing Meredith to grin ear to ear.

“Go try these on and tell me what you think,” The woman demanded.

Meredith obeyed and stalked into one of the changing rooms. She stumbled into one of the dresses that had deep maroon silk fabric. It looked funny and almost unattractive on her because of her curvy figure. She freed herself from looking at it any longer.

She replaced that dress with a long, purple dress that had one shoulder strap. Silver jewels and beads were embedded on the strap, making it glisten in the light. It was gorgeous and it looked simply amazing on Meredith. She smiled completely pleased with her reflection, seeing a hard worked hour paid off.

She escaped the dress shop after she had paid for the dress and asked the woman to owl it to her the weekend before the ball. She breathed in the fall air as soon as she hit the door. The air flew through her nostrils and down to her lungs, stinging a bit seeing as she was just breathing in warm air. She looked around, shoving her hands in her jacket pocket. She felt the cool money fill her hands as she walked around aimlessly, trying to think of what to spend the rest of her money on.

As the raven haired girl walked into the Three Broomsticks, she was immediately greeted by her best friend Lucy. She was sitting at a table near the back with the famous ginger twins, but one had an arm dangled over her shoulders as the other one had a look of boredom (and annoyance) upon his face. She waved at the group, making her way over to them.

“Hey, guys,” She greeted as she sat in between Lucy and George. Meredith nudged George with her elbow noticing that he was utterly zoned out. George lit up like a candle when his eyes laid upon Meredith’s face. She let out a small giggle which echoed through his ears.

After countless attempts to start a conversation with the couple, Meredith got a little aggravated. She stood up, pulling George up with her. She gave him a bright smile.

“Hey, wanna walk around with me?” She asked, she hand dwelling on his wrists for longer than she had meant it to be. George nodded, eager to slip away from the boring couple and to be closer to Meredith.

They walked for a while, stopping in different shops here and there. They walked closely to each other, causing their hands to brush against one another. George felt his hand burn when they would come in contact for those brief seconds. He bit his tongue, holding back from saying anything that might embarrass him.

“Oh, George,” Meredith called as she looked inside a store window. Her hands where pressed up against the glass like a child and her warm breath collided with the cool glass as she continued to talk, “It’s so lovely! Come look!”

George snapped out of his daze and walked up behind her, hovering over her shoulder to get a good look at what she was gushing over. It was a silver necklace; not flashy nor showy. It was a small, simple, silver key with one petite diamond in the center of it. It was gorgeous.

“Too bad I don’t have enough money for it,” Meredith spoke through a sigh. She gave the necklace another glance before taking George’s hand in hers and pulling him into a candy shop.

As Meredith filled numerous amounts of bags with candy, George had his mind on one thing. That necklace. It was perfect for Meredith and he knew that. He chewed his lip as he thought of a way to get the money to buy the piece of jewelry. He instantly thought of his products that he and his brother made and were selling. If he asked Fred if he could use some of the money, he was almost positive he would have enough to buy the necklace.

“Thanks for escorting me around Hogsmeade, George,” Meredith said as they started to walk back.

All the Hogwarts students were far ahead of them, eager to show off what they had bought. But George and Meredith were walking at their own pace, just enjoying their company.

He gave her the famous Weasley smile as he said, “It’s no big deal. I had fun.”

“Me too.”

She bit her lip, as a new, warm and fuzzy feeling danced around the pit of her stomach. She wasn’t sure what she was feelings, but every time she would look at George, something from her stomach would shoot up and bang around in her chest. It hurt almost, but it felt nice.

As the night sky was painted across the sky, crickets and grasshoppers began to play their music, signaling that it was time to go inside the warm, welcoming castle. But before they did, Meredith’s hand caught the back of George’s neck and brought it down to her level. She planted a small, innocent kiss on his cold, soft cheek causing it to warm up instantly.

She backed away from him with a smug smile on her face, wiggling her fingers at him. The girl walked off to her common room, not really in the mood to eat anything. Plus she had mountains of candy bags to go through if she got a craving for something sweet.

The common room was dark. A draft blew in, making Meredith shiver. Since there was no carpet on the tiled floors, the room seemed a bit colder than most rooms. The Slytherin common room was not a favorite when it came to the award for Most Home Feeling. Instead, it won Most Terrifying.

Meredith dropped off her stuff near her bed, then picked up the books she had barrowed from the library. Walking back through the common room, she began to get an uneasy feeling. She felt as if someone was watching her. She looked over her shoulders as she pressed the books tightly to her chest. When she didn’t see anyone, she continued on her journey to the library.

While walking through the halls and up the moving staircases, the sickening feeling never left the pit of Meredith’s stomach. It rested there, haunting her. She waited for someone to jump out at her, scare her. She rounded the corner as fast as she could without running only to collide into someone.

“Oi! You alright?” A voice called, helping Meredith off of the ground.

Meredith was about to reply, but she looked up and smiled at the red head that stood before. She swept the books back into her arms and stared at the brown eyed boy. She examined him from head to toe, not quite sure who he was exactly.

“George,” Her voice raised at the end, making it sound more like a question than a statement.

The red head shook his head, his long hair lifting off his shoulders in the air. He lifted his hand and jabbed a thumb into his chest while saying, “Fred. George is in the Common room. Said something about Christmas on his way.”

Meredith nodded her head, glad she didn’t throw her arms around his neck. The two really did look just a like. It was definitely going to be challenge to name the two apart.

“So, how can I be able to tell you two apart?” She asked him as she continued her walk to the library. He followed beside her, his hands in his pockets. “Like, is there any trick to know the difference?”

Fred thought for a moment, then shook his head telling her that he had absolutely idea. Meredith let a sigh escape her lips when she entered the library, Fred still hot on her heels. He helped her put away her books and held the new ones that she had picked out.

“Hey, Meredith,” He started, coughing when she slammed a book on top of the stack in his arm causing dust to fly in his face, “Can I ask you a question?”

She looked at him curiously. An eyebrow hitched up not quite liking the way that conversation was going. But she nodded her head anyways, wanting to know what he was planning on asking.

Fred chewed on his bottom lip, as if contemplating on how to ask her. He freed his lip from between his teeth and sighed. “I just want to know what your intentions with my brother are. I know that sounds really awful, but I’m not trying to be a prat!”

Meredith’s face immediately reddened. She stared at the book shelf that she stood in front of. Her eyes were fixed on the books on the bottom shelf. She didn’t know how to answer his question, for she wasn’t sure how she felt. Her shoulders raised up then fell back down. As she did this, her fingers ran through her black fringe, letting it fall back into her face.

“I don’t know,” She said sending a weak smile in his direction, “He’s a great guy. And his freckles,” she paused to laugh softly, “I’m a sucker for freckles. Everything he does he has a purpose behind it. He’s always got this twinkle in his eyes, like there’s more to what he’s saying. A hidden meaning, I guess you could call it. He makes me feel smart. Not like the other kids who make me feel guilty for being smart, but it’s like he genuinely thinks that I’m smart. I like how proud he gets when he thinks he’s got an answer right or if he thinks he’s done something right. He listens to me and I don’t mind listening to him. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I like him. I like your brother a lot.”

Fred just stood there, a smile forming and growing as he listened to the small speech about his brother. Meredith put a hand over her face as she tried to hind a smile.

“I can’t believe you just admitted that,” Fred said.

Meredith looked up at him and muttered, “Me neither.”

She star at Fred with a smile. It was as if something clicked in her head. She hadn’t realized it until just then. She liked George more than a friend and she was okay with that.